Catalan Parliament lends support to Barcelona Climate Change Talks

In today’s session, the Chamber of Deputies stated the importance of the talks to be held prior to the Copenhagen Conference, where an agreement will be reached that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

They also encouraged the public to take part in the various events to be held to mark the Talks and called for governments to recognise “subnationals” in applying climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.

In today’s session, the Catalan Parliament expressed its support for the talks to be held in Barcelona, from 2 to 6 November, which are the last round of negotiations before the Copenhagen Conference, where an international agreement must be reached on the continuation and intensification of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of climate change. It did this by issuing a statement emphasising the importance of the Barcelona Talks, the result of which, it is hoped, will be an agreement that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

The Chamber praised the number of events organised to mark the Barcelona Talks and encouraged the public to take part. In this respect, the Chamber recalled the involvement of Catalan civil society in facing the global challenge of climate change, both in the high level of participation and the large number of proposals received in the context of the Catalan Climate Change Convention, and the numerous social, business and cultural initiatives.

In regard to the Barcelona Talks, the Catalan Parliament recalled the need for negotiators to recognise in the final agreement the role played by the so-called “subnational” and local governments in the practical and effective application of climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, and to include this recognition in the final document of the Copenhagen agreement.

For its part, the Catalan Parliament has undertaken to comply with the European Union’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% unilaterally, and by 30% if an international agreement is reached in Copenhagen.